Jobless rate rises to 7.8 percent in Massachusetts

Like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence, unemployment rose statewide last month, punctuating an obvious economic spin-out in Massachusetts and across the country.

The state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development on Thursday reported joblessness rose from 7.4 percent in January to 7.8 percent in February, with 11,300 jobs lost in that month alone.

Over a year, the state bled 86,300 jobs, according to the figures, with the steepest declines in professional, scientific, business services, trade, transportation, utilities and manufacturing.

Jane Albert

In an arena starved for good news, there were a few bright spots in the latest statistics.

"Education and health services is actually growing," said Rena Kottcamp, research director for the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance, adding that the most growth came under the heading of ambulatory care.

That includes so-called out-patient care centers and home health care, for instance.

Kottcamp said health care and social assistance account for 484,700 jobs statewide, about 15 percent of the total work force. That sector saw 10,200 new jobs over the year, with 900 just last month.

Jane Albert, director of public affairs, for Baystate Health, said that company has approximately 240 job openings.

"The majority of those are clinical, related to direct patient care," Albert said. "Those require specialized training and skills."

In addition, the leisure and hospitality sector added jobs for the second consecutive month, according to Kottcamp.

"People are still eating and drinking," she said, adding that the leisure and hospitality umbrella constitutes a "supersector," and accounts for 9.4 percent of all jobs statewide, with seasonal fluctuations.

David C. Gadaire, executive director of CareerPoint in Holyoke, said there are still jobs to be had even in a bleak economy. Despite employment trends, he said career counselors resist pointing their clients to so-called "hot" jobs.

"If we do that, the industry will dry very fast," he said. "We try to get people to go back and do a reassessment of what they really want to do and try to steer people as close to that as we can within the boundaries of the economy."

Gadaire said the agency helped 100 clients get jobs last month and 150 in January. He said counselors chiefly try to help job-seekers battle hopelessness.

The Best Local Job Fair will be held on March 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Holyoke, featuring several large employers in the Pioneer Valley.